My Mother’s Music Lessons

by M.Mohankumar

A mother teaches her child music, even as he wonders about the future of the music that he is learning. Years later though, he realizes the worth of the music his mother taught him and the truth behind her words. M. Mohankumar pens a poem on the music lessons and the conversations between the mother and her child.

My mother was a good singer, though she
never performed in public. When I was six,.
she opened the doors of music for me and
led me in, guiding my every step. Before long,
it was heavy going, often mind-blowing..
Long passageways of notes rising and falling.
My mother would sing in slow tempo, urging me
on, the notes dancing in the air, the way they
never did when I sang. My wayward voice.
The pre-dawn singing became a galling exercise.
Once, in desperation, I asked her, ‘Why learn
a music that has no future? ’She looked hurt.
‘This music will live for ever,’ she said gently,
‘anchored as it is in eternal values. It will give
you peace of mind.’ Like, she said, good conduct
bringing good results. Words that taught me
more than music. And then she burst into song:
santhamu lekha soukhyamu lethu…..*
Music that would live for ever? Yes, I saw
growing proof of it, years later, year after year,
in the crowded music halls of Chennai where
thousands sat, absorbed, listening to this music,
the music my mother had taught me painstakingly.

Pic from https://www.flickr.com/photos/santyphotography/

Mohankumar has published seven volumes of poetry in English. His poems have appeared in almost all reputed literary magazines in print in India. His first collection of short stories in English, ‘The Turning Point and Other Stories’ has been published by Authorspress, Delhi . Mohankumar retired as Chief secretary to Government of Kerala.

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* ‘without peace, there is no comfort’ Thyagaraja kriti, sama raga